PLEASE NOTE: This item has a planned arrival date of February 2018 and is only available for PRE-ORDER at this time.

Orders are not shipped until complete. If you wish to receive in-stock items prior to pre-ordered items, you must place separate orders.

Arrival dates are subject to change. Consider them to be estimates as manufacturers frequently revise them.

Credit Cards are not billed until time of shipment. Check or PayPal payment (not recommended) is required at time of order.

The F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) variant is the world’s first supersonic STOVL stealth aircraft in aviation history. The F-35B variant is designed to operate from austere bases and a range of air-capable ships near front-line combat zones. It can also take off and land conventionally from longer runways on major bases. F-35B aircraft have been delivered to the U.S. Marines and the U.K., whose forces are training together at the Integrated Training Center at Eglin Air Force Base. STOVL aircraft are also stationed at the first operational F-35 base, Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz., and are completing flight test at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. The Italian Air Force will also operate the F-35B.

Designed to meet the US Military's requirement for a multi-role Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35 was first flown on December 15, 2006. This single-seat fighter is one of the most advanced aircraft of our time, said to be four times more effective at air-to-air combat and eight times more effective at air-to-ground combat than any other existing aircraft. It uses a low-maintenance stealth technology, and some versions have an innovative Lift System, which gives the F-35 vertical take-off and landing capabilities. The US plans to buy a total of 2,443 F-35s at a cost of $323 billion, which makes the F-35 the most expensive defense program in history.